By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) -Manchester City’s bid to chop Arsenal’s Premier League lead to two points was scuppered as Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal earned Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 won over the champions on Sunday.
Kane’s 15th-minute effort punished some sloppy City defending and made him the north London club’s all-time top goalscorer with 267, taking him past former great Jimmy Greaves whose record had stood since 1970.
It was a strike even fans of Tottenham’s arch-rivals Arsenal would have celebrated down the road as it helped Mikel Arteta’s side stay five points clear of champions City despite Saturday’s shock loss at Everton.
Tottenham had led by two goals at halftime at City a few weeks ago only to capitulate and lose 4-2 but this time they held firm despite a late red card for Cristian Romero to boost their own hopes of finishing in the top four.
With Erling Haaland relatively quiet the closest City came to scoring was a Riyad Mahrez effort that smashed against the underside of the crossbar in first-half stoppage time.
Tottenham then withstood a late siege to clinch a third win in four league games over Pep Guardiola’s side.
City remain in second place with 45 points from 21 games with Arsenal on 50 having played a game less with the two sides meeting in north London on Feb. 15.
Tottenham are fifth on 39 points from 22 games, one behind Newcastle United.
Kane’s moment arrived when City made a mess of trying to play out from the back and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stole the ball off Rico Lewis before holding off a challenge and flicking the ball to Kane.
The England striker sent his right-foot shot into the corner past Ederson for his 200th Premier League goal.
After the final whistle Kane was interviewed on the pitch as fans serenaded him with “Harry you’re one of own..” — a reference to the fact he joined the club as an 11-year-old.
“It’s quite surreal, a magical feeling to do it in front of the home fans and to win the game, I wanted to do it at this special place and in front of these amazing fans.”
For City it was a bitter blow in their bid to chase down Arsenal and leaves them only three points above Manchester United.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
